Medicaments are routinely prescribed for and administered to patients for a wide variety of physiological conditions. The term "medicament", as used herein, means any therapeutic substance, consumable or nonconsumable, which is intended for intake by humans or animals. Solid medicaments, such as pills or tablets, are consumable and can generally be orally ingested. The term "solid", as used herein, means any material, the physical, chemical or biological properties of which do not appreciably change upon contact of the solid with the coating materials outlined herein.
Solid medicaments which must be administered orally or internally are frequently relatively large and potentially difficult or uncomfortable to ingest or administer. Further, a relatively complex course of treatment may require the administration of numerous solid medicaments of several types and sizes on a daily basis or even more frequently. The administration of a solid medicament should be safe, painless and convenient for the patient, to ensure completion of the treatment regime with optimum therapeutic results. For example, solid medicaments such as pills or tablets should ideally be of a size and shape that promotes their ingestion, with an outer surface that is smooth or otherwise easily swallowed. Alternatively, some solid medicaments can be formulated with palatable ingredients to render them chewable and thus easier to ingest.
However, many solid medicaments cannot be made small and innocuous and therefore are relatively difficult to administer, especially to patients who may be incapable of self-administration of the medicament, such as infants, the seriously ill or injured, and the elderly. It would thus be advantageous to have a device and/or a method for assisting in the administration of solid medicaments which are potentially difficult to ingest or administer.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide methods and devices for facilitating the administration of solid medicaments to patients.